Not-so-great idea: drilling in the lakes

Our position is:The Great Lakes are no place to drill for gas and oil.

Of 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water in the Great Lakes, only 1 percent of the volume comes from snow and rainfall. The remainder is from the melting of glaciers at the end of the Ice Age.

That's why this closed system of water holding 95 percent of the nation's fresh surface water is so fragile -- and why a congressional ban on drilling for natural gas in the five Great Lakes or along the shoreline ought to be extended beyond its 2007 expiration date.

Proponents of drilling argue that hundreds of gas-producing wells on the Canadian side of lakes have operated without a major catastrophe. But there have been numerous smaller gas and oil spills reported from Canada's operations. The full extent of pollution from Canadian drilling isn't known.

Although proposed drilling would involve directional drilling, with land-based rigs slanting their drills toward gas and oil deposits under the lakes, even minimal risk could have enormous consequences in a closed system that provides drinking water for 33 million people. At greatest peril would be the last remaining wetlands and fragile sand dunes along the shore where drilling operations would be located.

To effectively tap the area would require thousands of wells and a large infrastructure to transport the gas and oil. That poses danger of contaminating the shoreline or the lakes with hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, lead, mercury and other dangerous chemicals.

An analysis of proposed drilling in Michigan concluded that wells would produce enough energy to power the country for only about two hours a year, generating roughly $2 billion in revenue -- a fraction of the $11.5 billion spent by tourists who vacation at Lake Michigan.

Much of Indiana's shoreline along Lake Michigan is federal or state recreational beaches. Industrial areas on Indiana's western shoreline already are faced with major environmental cleanup operations.

There is concern that a permanent congressional ban on drilling might create a precedent giving the federal government future control over the lakes in the event of an effort in the arid and growing Southwest to draw water from them. A regional ban on drilling by Great Lakes states probably makes the most sense, along with greater regional efforts in monitoring the lakes.

At the least, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Minnesota should join other Great Lakes states in prohibiting drilling in this fragile natural resource.